Have you ever danced with the Devil?
by Calirie Halanwe
Summary: Set in Draco and Hermione's Fourth year, the night of the Yule Ball. Just a one-shot fic about two people finding comfort in a dance with the last pearson each would expect. DMHG fluff ahoy!


Disclaimer: okay, the characters, location yadayada belong to the great J.K and the line/title paramount in this fic belong to the wonderful MordsithGoddess, as this was inspired by her fic, 'Dancing with the Devil.' Go read it! All credit goes to her and her brill fic for motivating this little moment of fluff!  
  
That said please read and review to let me know what you think! Corrections and concrit welcome, how else can one improve? :-D  
  
Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight?  
  
Hermione stormed out of the common room without looking where she was going. She bolted down the stairs, her periwinkle blue robes billowing behind her, her hair falling in waves down her back.  
  
She was careful to avoid being seen as she stalked out of the castle and headed away from the fairy covered rose bushes and sickeningly romantic couples. She allowed her pace to slow as she made her way along the shore of the lake, the moonlight illuminating the surface as ripples gently danced across it.  
  
'How could he?' She fumed. 'How could he have the cheek?!' Ron had come down on her like a ton of bricks about going to the Yule Ball with Krum. She realized now it was jealousy, not what he had claimed, betrayal. She fumed even more when she thought of how obstinate he could be. She didn't really even like Viktor in that way, but he had made her feel special. Something Ron couldn't do, because he was still too damn immature to admit his feelings!  
  
Finally, seething, she came to a small clearing enclosed on three sides by the Dark Forest, and on the remaining side by the lake.  
  
Her pulse and breathing slowed as she entered the clearing and made to sit on the small bare log in the centre.  
  
Her heart stopped as she saw something move. Her body froze and she started to panic as she realized she had left her wand in her room!  
  
Hermione let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding as the figure stepped into the moonlight.  
  
'What are you doing here?' His cold voice demanded.  
  
'None of your business, Malfoy.' She spat back.  
  
Draco Malfoy glared at her. How dare she just barge in on him like that? Her of all people!  
  
Hermione shifted uncomfortably as she noticed Draco staring at her. She felt her panic at being wandless rising again. 'Why hadn't he called her Mudblood?' She wondered.  
  
They stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes. Finally Hermione sighed exasperatedly. 'If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone so I can think.'  
  
Draco glared. 'That's exactly what I was trying to do until you showed up.' He hissed.  
  
'Fine!' Hermione declared. And with that she stomped over to the log and plonked herself down on the end, arms folded.  
  
'Fine.' Echoed Draco. He threw himself down on the other end, and they sat in an incensed silence with their backs to one another.  
  
Hermione couldn't figure out what was different about him tonight. Malfoy hadn't called her Mudblood, in fact, he hadn't really done anything but react to her rudeness. Hermione let her body relax and her arms unfold as she drifted deeper into thought. 'What was different about him tonight?'  
  
A shudder ran up her spine as she remembered seeing him in the Great Hall. He was looking extremely handsome tonight in his exquisite black dress robes. She shook her head to clear any positive thoughts of Draco Malfoy from her mind. He was, after all, her enemy.  
  
Draco stole a glimpse over his shoulder. Hermione was sat with her back to him. She was slumped over with her hands in her lap, and her now straight brown hair tumbling down her back almost seductively. Her dress seemed to glow in the pale moonlight. Draco looked down at his own black robes and suppressed the urge to rip them off.  
  
It wasn't the robes he disliked, it was the fact he would never be able to have a girl in periwinkle blue dress robes on his arm, unless she was a Pureblood Slytherin...  
Draco swore and put his head in his hands. Hermione started and looked round at his slumped figure. For the first time since she had met Malfoy Jr, she felt a swell of compassion for him.  
  
'Is something wrong, Draco?' She asked tentatively. Draco started, causing Hermione to immediately drop her gaze again and silently curse herself for giving him ammunition to taunt her with.  
  
'I, I, why do you care?' He asked. It wasn't the question that had surprised him so much, it was the fact it had come from Hermione Granger, and the fact she had called him Draco.  
  
'Who says I do? I was just curious.' She replied defensively.  
  
He sighed heavily. Hermione felt guilty for snapping, but quickly shook her head to banish the thought.  
  
Suddenly something began to happen which caused them both to stand. Quite clearly, a Waltz began to play. The moonlight brightened and the two students exchanged confused glances.  
  
'How can the music be heard down hear?' Draco voiced out loud.  
  
'I don't know.' Hermione looked around. The clearing seemed quite beautiful, and the music was quite enchanting. The whole scenario was interesting to say the least.  
  
She started as her gaze fell on Draco and she found he was staring intently at her, his silver eyes seemed to glow with intensity under the moonlight.  
  
Hermione felt her pulse quicken and her impulse to run awaken again as he walked meaningfully across the clearing towards her. Her breath caught in her throat as he stopped, his body barely inches from her own.  
  
'Wanna dance?' He asked with a half smile she had never seen before. Hermione blinked; then without thinking placed her hand in the one proffered.  
  
For the first time ever Draco was looking at her with a gaze devoid of hostility and contempt, and was smiling that half smile more genuinely than any smirk or grin she had ever seen on his face.  
  
Draco slipped his arm around her waist as she put her other hand on his shoulder. As he spun her into a dance perfectly in rhythm with the music she smiled at him, and it too, was genuine.  
  
Together the miss-matched pair swept around the clearing. With moonlight gleaming in their hair and music lighting their smiles, they forgot their troubles.  
  
Hermione forgot her petty squabbles with her friends, her worries about the future. Draco forgot his own fears for the future, and just for a moment, he chased away his loneliness with the embrace of the pretty young Gryffindor in his arms.  
  
Slowly the music died down, and the moonlight's brilliance began to fade. The couple silently came to a stand-still.  
  
After a moment, Draco realized they had simply been staring at one another. He tore his silver eyes away from the chocolate coloured ones of the girl he held. She seemed to shake herself out of her trance as his eyes left hers.  
  
Hermione took a step back, uncertain what had possessed her and what to do now. She chanced a glance in his direction and was shocked to see him looking more forlorn than she could have ever envisaged. He stepped closer to her, her heart racing again.  
  
Slowly, but very deliberately, he bent his head and gave her a soft, lingering kiss on her cheek. 'Thank you for the dance.' He whispered. And with that he turned and was gone in a flourish of black robes.  
  
Several months later, the student body of Hogwarts was sat in the Great Hall for breakfast. Several people were exchanging cards or gifts, as it was Valentines Day, after all.  
  
Hermione, Ron and Harry sat talking at the Gryffindor table, not paying any attention to the events around them. Hermione listened to her friends chatter with a fond smile. After Christmas Eve, everything had gone back to normal; it was as if nothing had ever happened at all.  
  
Every now and then she would catch the gaze of her Slytherin classmate in a lesson, and his eyes would linger for just a few seconds longer than necessary before falling away. But Hermione had convinced herself it was just her imagination.  
  
Her reverie was shattered however, when one of the school's plump Barn Owls landed right in front of her; carrying a long, thin box.  
  
'Oh! Thank you.' She said with a slightly bewildered smile before it flew off. The box was slender, and decorated in silver paper with a green ribbon; Slytherin colours. The card bore one word in delicately spiralling green ink. 'Hermione'.  
  
'What's that?' Asked Harry.  
  
'Who's it from?' Demanded Ron. They were both eyeing the colours decorating the box with suspicious looks.  
  
'None of your business.' Hermione replied airily.  
  
Gently she pulled the ribbon loose and lifted the lid. Inside the box was a single red rose. Hermione gasped at the simplicity and the beauty of the gift. The rose was a rich red in full bloom, and underneath it was another card; silver with one line in the same glittering green ink.  
  
Hermione looked up and locked eyes with the blonde haired boy at the Slytherin table. She smiled warmly at him and gave a barely perceptible nod, which he returned before their gaze was broken. Hermione lowered her eyes back to her Valentine gift and re-read the card with a secret smile;  
  
'Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moonlight?'  
  
End.  
  
There you go folks! Hope you enjoyed this little piece of fluff! If you did enjoy please review and let me know, also if you would be interested in a sequel, or another short fic about a different/the same pairing of characters in a different/the same sort of situation please let me know in a review or email me at , and I will see what I can come up with; all credit goes to the one who suggested said fic of course!  
  
Namarie 


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